Shooting the Falke 90: Part 1

Before we start, I wanted to give you some more info about the 2nd Annual Airgun Extravaganza in Arkansas. The show’s promoter has made a deal with a couple motels. Mention the show and you’ll get a discount:

Make reservations early because they may fill up since the show’s being held on the same weekend as the Arkansas Derby.

I plan to attend this show with Mac, and we have a couple tables. I know it didn’t work out last year, but let’s hope that doesn’t happen again!

Test and photos by Earl “Mac” McDonald

My Falke 90 underlever air rifle isn’t in the best condition, but with fewer than 200 known to exist, it doesn’t matter that much. Anyone is a good one.

Well, we’ve seen how Vince was able to rebuild my Falke 90 underlever rifle. Now, Mac’s going to test it for us. Vince delivered the rifle to Mac so I wouldn’t have to cock it. That was when I first found out about my hernia. I’m now wearing a support, so I can do more than before, but Mac had all the fun this time. I think he deserves it as a small reward for handling all the work I haven’t been able to do over the past year. I’m really lucky to have a friend like him, and I couldn’t have kept this blog going without his help.

Falke is German for “falcon,” so the logo is a bird, of course.

The logo is all over the gun.

I’ve said several times that the Falke 90 is very much like a Hakim air rifle made by Anschütz for the Egyptian army. This is the first Falke 90 I’ve ever seen, but I’ve owned about 15 Hakims and can tell you there’s a lot of similarity between the two rifles. Someone asked why we can’t see the underlever, so Mac took a photo of the gun with the lever in the down position. You can see what it looks like and how it fits up into the stock and out of the way. As I told you before, many other air rifles did and still do use this same design, with the Air Arms Pro-Sport being the one that’s sold today.

When stowed, the underlever fits into the bottom of the forearm, out of sight.

The cocking lever is tucked under the gun, inside the forearm. When it goes down, the loading tap opens automatically.

Loading tap and rear sight.

Very few known to exist
The Falke 90 is a very rare air rifle, with fewer than 200 known to exist. Mine is serial No. 39, which is stamped several places on the gun, the most obvious being the loading tap. There’s a Falke forum called Falke Talk, where every known Falke 80 and 90 is being tracked. These rifles are so hard to find that owners from all over the world band together to share information about them.

My rifle is serial No. 39.

Overall impressions
Mac says the Falke 90 feels very natural to him. The placement of the loading tap, the righthand palm swell and the weight distribution all conspire to make this an easy rifle to shoot offhand. The stock is a nice figured walnut with checkering on the grip and forearm.

On this rifle, some previous owner has carved initials into the checkering on the left side of the forearm, reducing the stock to poor condition. The pull measures 13.75 inches and the length overall is 44.25 inches. Mac has no way of weighing the overall rifle, but I expect that it has to be over 8 lbs. at least.

The metal was finished well at one time; but like the wood on my rifle, it’s suffered over the years. The barrel measures 19.25 inches to the center of the loading tap. The trigger-pull as Vince has set it is 56 oz., but Mac says it feels much lighter. The first stage is very light, and the let-off is crisp. The cocking effort is 28 lbs. but seems like less. The stock is completed with one-inch sling swivels.

The trigger is adjustable via a small screw behind the trigger blade. Note the crack in the stock. It’ll also be found on every Hakim. An apparent weak spot in the design of the stock for this type of action.

Sights
The front sight features replaceable blades, though I only have the one that’s mounted at this time. However, I believe that it can be flipped upside down for a shorter post on the bottom of what is now showing. The rear sight is a precision open leaf sight with a choice of two notches. There are several places along the scope rail to lock down the rear sight or the optional peep sight that I don’t have.

Front sight is replaceable and (I believe you can flip this one over for a shorter post on the bottom).

The rear sight is a heavy precision unit that resembles the one on the Hakim but is considerably heavier. This one is made of machined parts and conveys the sense of great value. A peep sight was also available, but I don’t have one and there are very few Falke parts available for the 80s and 90s.

The rear sight is heavy and precisely made. Fully adjustable in both directions with choice of two notches.

Impressions
Well, this certainly is a strange and wonderful vintage air rifle. It dates back to a time when quality was the standard and German quality was the watchword of the world. It’s exactly the kind of air rifle most of us say we want — heavy machined metal and beautiful walnut wood, with attention to each and every detail. It’s unfortunate they’re so scarce, because many more want them than there are rifles to go around. Fortunately, the BSA Airsporter underlever and the Hakim are both very similar rifles that exist in far greater numbers.

Mr. B / Mrs E. Gaylord,
I’ve just checked the link on PA’s website. To me it looks perfectly fine and it works too!!
Mr. B, it’s just an idea but why not save this blog as a favorite website?
It would mean less typing / clicking on links.

I’m not sure what you’re seeing, but I’m seeing more space between the word BLOG and VIDEO on the blue tab line. When I try to click on the word BLOG, I immediately get a drop-down listing with 2 selections: Airgun Blog and Airsoft Blog.

I don’t know what browser & platform you’re using, but it would help if you told me so I could report it to Pyramyd Air. They may not be aware that some people see it differently.

Edith,
I tried the PA web site and the new drop-down option. Everything is working fine for me. I use Firefox on an XP os. However, I don’t have time for two blogs. Well, maybe I can work one more in but certainly not three. Well, if I can get someone to bring me food I could do three, but certainly not four, but…

BTW, I understand you discovered there are people who pick their nose while running with scissors on icy sidewalks. I knew this but this is the first time I ever saw it revealed on the web.
-Chuck

Edith,
I just wanted to display that I read the new blog. I didn’t realize that neither you nor BB were involved in that blog. Looks like a guy named Tom Harris is hosting that blog. Any way, the nose picking scissor running on icy sidewalks was one of his statements. Just as well coulda been one of BB’s, I think.
-Chuck

Speaking of the TF 79, I have an update on the AR2078 I bought from Mike Melick and it is very bad news.

I had written him and told him the problems I had getting good rested groups. He sent me a terse reply “the secret is don’t rest the gun”.

I then sent him pictures of 5 rested groups with his gun, a Daisy 953 and my custom Mountain Air 2300S carbine. The MA shot 5 shot groups with 5 different pellets of from .08 – .20″ ctc. The Daisy groups were a little larger at about .20″ ctc average and the BEST groups I got with the AR2078 was around .6″ ctc. All this at 25′ with my hand on a rest and the gun rested with an artillary hold on my palm.

He then sent me an email saying send the gun back and he will send me a new one or refund my money.

It cost me $15 to ship the gun to him, and as I had no faith in his ability to supply what I had asked for initially I asked for a refund.

Imagine my surprise when I got a refund of only $135! So by then I had $195 in the gun.

I sent him an email explaining my unhappiness with the gun and his refund, and his reply said “I charge a 25% restocking fee and your gun was tested and shot .20″ groups.”

My subsequent email explained to him that compasseco advertised the gun at .08 ctc and my initial contacts to him requested a rifle I could use for 10 meter practice and this one was far from it.

His reply was that that was .20″ edge to edge which was .02″ ctc and “you should have read the restocking disclaimer” Well, I got his contact off yellow forum and never saw his web site.

Needless to say, I will NEVER buy any thing from Mike Melick again. And I would advise others of the same thing. If you have a problem he WON’T make it right!

My first indication of trouble was when I was talking to him on the phone prior to the gun being shipped and after he emailed me the gun was built and he was testing it now. I asked about accuracy and he told me “I think it is going to be good, but I only have cheap pellets to test it with. You should get better groups with good pellets.” HUH? Unfortunately I had already paid him at that point.

pcp4me,
This is not the kind of thing one wants to hear. I wonder how he benched those claimed .02 groups and with what pellet. Did he share the pellet type info with you? I agree with you. It sounds kind of odd that he would claim to use cheap pellets for the initial testing and then speculate on better results.
-Chuck

ohhh, I hate to hear stuff like this too.
I don’t wish to stir the pot but I’d like to relate my experience.
I frequent the Chinese Yellow forum probably one or twice a week (I check in here daily).
I started going there when I was having troubles with my XS-B9 that no one here could help me with.
All I can say is that if you follow their forum for awhile, Mike is spoken of in the same way B.B. is here, and appears to be very helpful.
And he took the time (though a number of emails) to help me out with a problem even though I am in Canada and did not purchase the gun through him.
I too was looking at the AR2078 as after 50 shots or so pumping the 853c gets tiring. But your experience is causing me to take it off my list as it appears it would be no where near as accurate as the 853c.

pcp4me, I sure am sorry to hear about your experience which doesn’t sound fair at all. It’s mystifying too since I had a great experience with Mike Melick. He lubed and tuned my IZH 61 without charging anything! He was a little spotty on the communication and had the gun fixed and mailed back to me before I really knew what was going on, but he certainly delivered. But I have no explanation for what you encountered.

That situation can be a tough call for a seller. A while ago I had sold an RWS94 to a fellow who absolutely insisted that the rifle would do no better than 2″ at 10 yards… and he had other springers and new how to shoot them and blah blah blah. The predictable happened – I got the gun back and refunded his money. Of course, when I tried it out myself the first quick 10-yard group was something like 5/16″.

Yes, too bad for that experience. On my occasional trips to the Chinese Yellow forum, I too had read good things however, most of those posts I read were 1 and 2 years old (example: “send it to M.M. he can make it into a tack driver” etc etc) It also appeared from the style of writing and grammar in those posts, that most of those singing praise were of the less worldly and likely under 25 crowd? The internet, a great place for info and insight until it isn’t so great or insightful.

Time goes by, people’s situations change and so do their intentions or ability to follow though.

As an alternative, my dealings with Archer Airguns have been excellent. When I have (legit) problems, Stephen Archer makes it right or if he can’t, he figures out a solution, even full exchanges of guns if necessary. He also has an active, professional looking blog, is interested in product development (not just mods & tune-ups) and is very customer service oriented. I rank his service up there with the best of the PA folks.

This one has be baffled also, had customers stop and pick up the rifle and take it to the range using RWS 10 pellets and thats what they brought back for a target, needless to say they bought it on the spot…..

Hello B.B.,
Off-topic, but I’ve been pondering the Rogue PCP that Loyd has helped develop.
With it’s electronic “regulator” wouldn’t it be a fantastic FT rifle if made in .177.
I don’t really know but since it has been introduced i have been wondering….

Wildey,
Yes, the electronically controlled valve can easily be downsized to handle .177, but the big bores (my true love) need a lot more help in maintaining consistent velocity because they use so much air and the tank pressure drops so fast. A 300 FPE big bore will use roughly 25 times as much air (in SCFM) per shot as a 12 FPE FT rifle. So you can see why their shot strings are often lacking.

That said, yes, it could be adapted nicely to .177 . The FT rifles, and most all PCPs, use tricks with valve size, valve chamber size, xfer port dia, back pressure, spring & stroke settings, etc., etc., to get consistent velocities. And many of them do a darn good job within a limited pressure range, and for a very reasonable price. If that is good enough, great!

But what would an electronic setup do for FT? Or any caliber for that matter. Think of it this way. If you could modify the mechanicals of your FT PCP rifle to achieve your required velocity at the lowest possible pressure, that would be the bottom end psi? Big xfer port, big valve, long stroke, soft valve spring, heavy hammer spring, the valve open directly to the tank. Almost like a dump valve. Let’s say that is 700 psi. But what happens with that setup at 3000 psi? Would the valve even open? Would it dump half the tank? That’s where the electronics come into play. They control the valve open time, not the pressure. Imagine being able to shoot your 12 FPE FT rifle from 3000 psi all the way down to 700 psi, while holding a constant FPE. I’ve called them boringly long shot strings!

But here’s the cool part. If you want to take that same gun into the basement and shoot it at 6 FPE, you could do that, and probably shoot it from 3000 psi all the way down to 500psi. Or you take it out to the woods and crank it up to 20FPE. At 20 FPE, your bottom end might be 1800 PSI, but you’d get a pile of shots all at 20 FPE.

My first “properly” functions prototype was .510 caliber, so you can see where my head is at. But this thing can be adapted up, or down. I think Brian in Idaho mentioned a modular design that could use a modest range of barrels. We’ve got a lot of airgunners out there who are real thinkers.

It will be great to look back in 2 years to see what either Crosman and/or us “great thinkers” have done with the Rogue. Multi-caliber capability seems like a no-brainer with that computer controlled valve system, the rest is just mechanical stuff.

Thanks to Mac for all of his help and for Vince for rescuing this particular rifle. Isn’t German engineering still the best? My Anschutz is in a class of its own in terms of overall quality (and price!).

Gene, is yellow a sad color? I know it’s the most visible. The only sad colors I can think of are blue and black.

Victor, maybe one other solution to getting a home for the rifles is to get an FFL yourself. Judging by the lunatic dealer who sold me my Savage 10FP, they can’t be that hard to get…. And you see a lot of people on the internet shooting full-auto, presumably with a Class III license for machine guns, another restrictive license, who don’t look the most responsible. I have toyed with the idea of getting an FFL as a long-term savings for gun transfers and what not, but it’s not really practicable. I suppose if an FFL is the issue for you then it would be easier to transfer them through someone who has the license. Hopefully, his fees will be closer to Kevin’s than to the one’s I’ve dealt with.

A propos of our conversation about Ph.D.s and stylized communication, have you noticed that those who operate in the most complex bureaucratic environments that are awash in a sea of documents and would need the greatest powers of mind to keep track of them are inevitably the most clueless? I’m dealing with this myself now. Someone proclaimed to me over email that I needed to fill out some form having to do with percentage of cost/effort sharing. I asked her what that meant, and she gave me a link. I read the link which was mostly incomprehensible and led to another link. That one just had a bunch of numbers in columns with no explanation. I explained all this over email and asked for more information and silence. Then some days later another request for the percentage info in order to process my blah blah. You wonder how anything gets done at all.

I don’t know if you saw my question about reading the wind. In the multitude of information provided by David Tubb and Nancy Tompkins, what do you pick out as most important? How do you compare wind of the same magnitude blowing near and far from your shooting position?

“How do you compare wind of the same magnitude blowing near and far from your shooting position?”

By compare, I assume that you mean, how do I use that information? Relatively speaking, the initial velocity is going to be greater than the terminal velocity at the target. Therefore, the effects of a constant velocity wind are going to have their greatest effect near the target. Therefore, indicators near the target are more critical.

Some shooters will use a higher velocity round for the 100 yard match, versus the 50 yard, or 50 meter match, as they are trying to reduce the “in flight” time of the bullet, and thus minimize the effects of the wind on that bullet. I personally have never done that. Remember, you still have to factor in the effects of subsonic versus supersonic.

Of course, there’s also the situation where the wind is doing something in between.

Question for anyone. When I see pictures or vids of people shooting pistol competitions like the practical pistol stuff or even practicing there often is a second person standing behind. A spotter perhaps who has an electronic device of some kind that is being held close to the shooters head and orientated horizontally. What is that all about? Is it just a timer? If so why do they hold it like that?

Thanks Brian,
That makes sense. The device makes the noise. I have obviously never been around this type of shooting. Observing in person would explain a lot. I knew this would be a good place to ask. It still seems like your arm would get tired of holding the thing up like that after the beep-beep-go! At any rate thanks to both of you for the explanations.

I don’t think that I’d have a problem getting an FFL. I’ve been investigated about as extensively as anyone can be. Suffice it to say, I’ve had to sign my life away almost 100 times in one sitting. More than that, I cannot say. In any case, until these recent developments, I never would have considered getting an FFL. Maybe I should.

Very interesting that you would bring up the subject of jargon, nomenclature, legalese, and such. I’m going through something related right now. Having studied “pure” (proof oriented mathematics), I work well off of definitions. I recently re-experienced that many non-technical people don’t, and in particular some management types. An important lesson about systems, processes, methodologies, etc., is that lack or rigor, or strict adherence to definitions and principles, can lead to something that purely reflects an individuals psychology, and not a faithful implementation of that system, process, or methodology. Sometimes we have to force everyone onto the same page so that you’re all talking apples and apples. If the person, or persons, that you’re dealing with aren’t helping, then they probably need to learn themselves. Trouble is, lots of people won’t admit that they don’t really know what they are talking about, which motivated my original comments about communications, or lack of. With that, is it possible for you to submit a draft, and allow them to come back with useful feedback. While some things can be done through a simple linear process, other things require an iterative, semi-linear, process.

If you are addressing the question of wind to me, then I probably can’t help as much as some of the other guys. I never really competed in anything longer than 100 yards, but that’s not to say that I didn’t have to dope wind. In any case, there is always a certain amount of uncertainty. The outdoor ranges that I competed in had flags at 50 and 100 yards. In addition to this, I had a windmill that I sat off to the side and in front of me. How you shoot depends on how windy it is. Sometimes it’s best to wait, while at other times, it’s best shoot a set of shots in a bit of a hurry. In addition to this, some shooters will do what they call “shaving”, which is to adjust their sights to the left, or right, end of the X-ring, or even 10 ring, depending on wind direction. Of course, the sighter bull allows you to get a concrete measure of the effects of the wind. Because wind flags can be different from range to range (material, length, placement, etc.), you can somewhat correlate the flags angle with a sighter shot.

Let me tell you an “interesting” story about two top American shooters. One was having a stellar day, while the other was struggling with the wind, and feeling incredibly miserable (especially since the other was so elated). The guy doping the wind made the mistake of explaining why he was doing so well. He explained that there was this daisy sitting between his target and the other guys, that provided an easily repeatable indicator of the effects of the wind. When it came time to go out and change targets, the first thing that the frustrated guy did was RIPPED that daisy from the ground.

I’m into a little bit of several things but airguns are big in the mix. Crappie fishing is my favorite pastime followed by basically any other type of fishing.

I grew up around guns and especially shotguns. My father has a very nice collection of double-barrel shotguns. We are in Kansas so mostly bird hinting. Quail, pheasant. duck, goose, turkey. We have big deer but Dad never hunted them so I never did. Still haven’t and really wouldn’t care to.

Airguns were around just as a matter of course as I grew up. Dad’s favorite store in the world use to be John Walls General store in Blairstown Missouri. No longer there but John Walls store is legendary. Dad spent a pretty penny there and whenever I was with him John would usually toss me an airgun to take for myself. Hell of a guy. At some point along the way Dad bought an FWB124 for pest control so I was fortunate to have quality adult airguns to learn with. He also had a nice LP-53 that he picked up when he was in the service in Germany. I have since taken possession of all the airguns from Dads save one. The 124.

I have been lurking around these forums for years. Someone said that airguns is a hobby for people who like to tinker. That’s me. Also one reason I like today’s article. I like to work on these guns. I occasionally post but usually come away wishing I hadn’t. At any rate I find, like a lot of folks, that I have more opportunity to shoot airguns that other types of shooting. So I have picked up a few airguns the last few years to enjoy. Between the new ones and the guns from Dad I have accumulated a nice little pile of airguns. I probably shoot my HW30 more than anything but this time of year I also shoot the P17 a lot. Indoors I just punch paper but outside I enjoy reactive targets like silhouettes and spinners. Knockdowns and resettables. The more the better. I have been accumulating these as well. I have not joined the Dark Side as of yet but it’s on my “to do” list. I actually visited a dive shop last week…………

I gave up bird hunting for the most part so the only shotgun shooting I do is sporting clays and 5 stand or skeet but I rarely do any of that anymore either. I keep a few handguns for defense but I will reach for the shotgun when I can. I have never shot large caliber rifles or black powder. I have enrolled myself and my girl friend for the requisite course for conceal carry next month. We are looking forward to that but then of course we will have to get a couple of carry guns. That will leave less money for the Dark Side. Decisions, Decisions….

Good deal… and sounds like you fit the “profile” on here pretty darn close. A lot of folks here who shoot all types of guns and like you, I don’t burn much powder anymore compared to air-gunning. Good point on the “tinkering” with airguns. It is that part of the hobby that keeps many of us coming back for more as you can see from today’s blog topic. Similar to firearms reloading fanatics, we have the same need for optimum performance or at the very least, optimum understanding of where the performance currently is and where it could be.

It’s that “could be” part that keeps our wallets empty and our closets filling up, with more toys.

When I was young I “lube tuned” my Slavia with WD-40. Then when I was little older I got sophisticated and lube tuned with Break Free. It was so easy to just blast away with the spray can. Never seemed to do a whole lot. I blamed it on the gun. Now of course I know better. I’m a middle-aged Moly junkie………

Crappy and bluegill filleted, dusted with cornmeal/flour, salt and pepper and fried into Fish McNuggets. Um, Um, Good. I was in a large group recently talking about favorite fish to eat and panfish were the surprise (to me) winner — usually people don’t want to admit it. Catfish is a favorite of mine, also, but it gains in quantity and loses in quality to the little ones. Haven’t found too many fish that are inedible, though. LM Bass are about the worst-tasting fish that’s really popular to catch, in my opinion, but maybe just because the “Bass Fishing” sport industry just rubs me the wrong way.

I agree about the bass. Very fishy. If I was hungry enough no problem but when there are crappies and walleyes and catfish about throw the bass back. If I gut-hook one I will usually just use it under a garden plant for fertilizer. Catfish taste great, especially Flatheads from my experience, and I hear that blues are great as well. Catfishing is a little different that crappie fishing and I can only do so much so I pass up a lot of good catfishing to chase crappies. No complaints. It’s great fun and good food to boot either way.

I’m in Colorado. I’m with you on eating walleye and catching crappie. Small jigs. I mostly trout fish these days. In the 1960’s until the mid 80’s I hunted birds in Colorado. Since then we’ve been hunting around Colby, Kansas.

It’s getting late and I can only type so much. You are a credit to this blog and I always enjoy your posts. I really appreciate it when I see you stick up for Tom on the yellow. One of the problems I have with posting is that it is hard to tell who is who on these forums. When I see a post from you, however, I know that it’s straight up. Your knowledge is astounding.

I am also familiar with your fishing club. I have very much enjoyed the insights you have let us in on with your posts. I have seen the pics and have even tried to view it on google earth. You are very fortunate and I am sure it is very well deserved. I have fished for trout on the lower White River for the last couple years in N. Central Arkansas with Dad and a few of his friends. Next month and I can’t wait!

BB,
Really a pretty rifle — must have been something in its day. Would restoring the wood and metal ruin the value or simply cost more than the result is worth? I don’t usually mind signs of use, but this one looks rode hard and put up wet…the initials are the coup de grace (actually not very merciful death in this case).

Well, I thought it was a beater, just like you, but Garvin, who moderates Falke Talk, tells me mine is actually in better condition than many. So absolutely no refinishing while I am the owner. This air rifle is five times more scarce than a Colt Walker, or if you consider the number of Walkers that are still in existence today, it is equally rare. And Walkers start at a quarter-million and quickly go up.

Not that I think it is worth anything like that. Not in a million years! But it is an extreme rarity and would suffer greatly from any cosmetic work that removed original finish or the patina of age.

BB,
Thanks, I figured as much. The condition is well-used; its the initials that make me feel a little ill, although fixing that would probably lead to other work… I suspect the processes and finishes used on it originally are effectively banned many places now, anyway, so it would be hard to do a true restoration.

I was just watching a long rifle auction and the accompanying discussion, where I think the rifle went for $23K and some people thought that $5K more in lock and other minor restoration would pay off big, while others were arguing for keeping it like it was (altered from original). In general, it seems, real condition is more valuable than even the best restoration, and the “way it is” is more valuable than the way it should be :).

Most guns are more valuable if they are in original condition. One exception seems to be the Winchester Model 21 double barrel shotguns. Nicely restored/refinished ones bring about as much as those in original condition.

This rebuilt rifle shoots around 500 fps depending on the pellet used. Of course, not knowing the condition of your rifle (seal, spring) it’s impossible to say how fast your rifle is shooting without a chronometer. Hope this is helpful to you.